List of current members of the Maryland Senate
The Maryland Senate is the upper house of the Maryland General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Maryland. One Senator is elected from each of the state's 47 electoral districts. As of January 2019, 32 of those seats are held by Democrats and 15 by Republicans. The leader of the Senate is known as the President, a position currently held by Bill Ferguson, who represents Baltimore City. In addition, Senators elect a President Pro Tempore, and the respective party caucuses elect a majority and minority leader and a majority and minority whip.
Senators are elected in even-numbered years when the President of the United States is not being elected, similar to most other state offices in Maryland. The most recent election was in November 2018. Senators are not term-limited. Should a Senator resign from office before his or her term expires, the local central committee of the party to which the retiring senator belonged makes a recommendation to the Governor for whom to appoint to the open seat. It is tradition for the Governor to appoint the recommended person. Nine of the current members of the Maryland State Senate were originally appointed, all of whom have since been elected in their own right. Newly elected Senators are sworn in and begin work on the second Wednesday of the January following their election.
Each Senator has at least one standing committee assignment. The first is to one of the four legislative committees: Budget and Taxation; Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs ; Finance; or Judicial Proceedings. A number of Senators have secondary committee assignments, most prominently to the Executive Nominations Committee, which oversees the constitutional responsibility of the Senate to approve nominations by the Governor. Assignment to the Rules or Executive Nominations committees or to any Ad Hoc committees is not noted.
Current party composition
Composition as of the beginning of the 2019–2022 term on January 9, 2019:During the 2015–2018 term, the State Senate was made up of 33 Democrats and 14 Republicans. Republicans gained two seats, while losing one seat in the elections held on November 6, 2018. Democrats maintain a super-majority in the chamber. Article II, Section 17 of the Maryland Constitution specifies it takes a three-fifths vote of both chambers to override a veto, which is 29 votes in the State Senate. The rules of the Senate also permit members to limit debate by a three-fifths majority vote, meaning Republicans would need to gain four additional seats, for a total of 19, in order to sustain a veto or filibuster legislation.
Current leadership
The below table reflects the current leadership of the Maryland State Senate as of February 2, 2020.Position | Name | Party | District |
President of the Senate | Democratic | 46 | |
President pro tem | Democratic | 25 | |
Majority Leader | Democratic | 39 | |
Majority Whip | Susan C. Lee | Democratic | 16 |
Minority Leader | Republican | 7 | |
Minority Whip | Republican | 36 |
Current State Senators
Members of the Maryland State Senate as of the start of the 439th session of the Maryland General Assembly on Wednesday, January 9, 2019.District | Jurisdiction represented | Image | Senator | Party | First elected | Primary committee |
1 | Allegany, Garrett, and Washington | Republican | 2006 | Budget and Taxation | ||
2 | Washington | Republican | Appointed and sworn in on February 2, 2015 | Budget and Taxation | ||
3 | Frederick | Democratic | 2010 | Judicial Proceedings | ||
4 | Carroll and Frederick | Republican | 2014 | Judicial Proceedings | ||
5 | Carroll | Republican | Appointed and sworn in on February 2, 2015 | Judicial Proceedings | ||
6 | Baltimore County | Republican | 2014 | Budget and Taxation | ||
7 | Baltimore County and Harford | Republican | 2010 | Finance | ||
8 | Baltimore County | Democratic | 2002 | Finance | ||
9 | Carroll and Howard | Democratic | 2018 | Education, Health and Environmental Affairs | ||
10 | Baltimore County | Democratic | 1994 | Finance | ||
11 | Baltimore County | Democratic | Appointed January 30, 2020 and sworn in February 3, 2020 | Judicial Proceedings | ||
12 | Baltimore County and Howard | Democratic | 2018 | Education, Health and Environmental Affairs | ||
13 | Howard | Democratic | 2014 | Budget and Taxation | ||
14 | Montgomery | Democratic | Appointed February 3, 2016 and sworn in February 4, 2016 | Budget and Taxation | ||
15 | Montgomery | Democratic | Appointed September 12, 2013 and sworn in September 17, 2013; first elected 2014 | Finance | ||
16 | Montgomery | Democratic | 2014 | Judicial Proceedings | ||
17 | Montgomery | Democratic | 2014 | Education, Health and Environmental Affairs | ||
18 | Montgomery | Democratic | 2018 | Judicial Proceedings | ||
19 | Montgomery | Democratic | 2018 | Finance | ||
20 | Montgomery | Democratic | Appointed December 13, 2016 and sworn in December 21, 2016 | Judicial Proceedings | ||
21 | Anne Arundel and Prince George's | Democratic | 2006 | Budget and Taxation | ||
22 | Prince George's | Democratic | Appointed August 1, 1994 and sworn in August 2, 1994; first elected November 1994 | Education, Health and Environmental Affairs | ||
23 | Prince George's | Democratic | 2006 | Budget and Taxation | ||
24 | Prince George's | Democratic | 2010 | Finance | ||
25 | Prince George's | Democratic | 2018 | Budget and Taxation | ||
26 | Prince George's | Democratic | 2018 | Education, Health and Environmental Affairs | ||
27 | Calvert, Charles and Prince George's | Democratic | 1974 | Budget and Taxation | ||
28 | Charles | Democratic | 2018 | Education, Health and Environmental Affairs | ||
29 | Calvert, and St. Mary's | Republican | 2018 | Education, Health and Environmental Affairs | ||
30 | Anne Arundel | Democratic | 2018 | Budget and Taxation | ||
31 | Anne Arundel | Republican | 2006 | Education, Health and Environmental Affairs | ||
32 | Anne Arundel | Democratic | 2018 | Finance | ||
33 | Anne Arundel | Republican | Appointed June 22, 2009; first elected 2010 | Finance | ||
34 | Harford | Republican | 2014 | Judicial Proceedings | ||
35 | Cecil and Harford | Republican | 2018 | Education, Health and Environmental Affairs | ||
36 | Caroline, Cecil, Kent, and Queen Anne's | Republican | Appointed September 18, 2013 and sworn in October 1, 2013; first elected 2014 | Finance | ||
37 | Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot, and Wicomico | Republican | 2014 | Budget and Taxation | ||
38 | Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester | Republican | 2018 | Education, Health and Environmental Affairs | ||
39 | Montgomery | Democratic | Appointed and sworn in September 5, 2007; first elected 2010 | Budget and Taxation | ||
40 | Baltimore City | Democratic | 2018 | Finance | ||
41 | Baltimore City | Democratic | Appointed and sworn in April 30, 2018 | Judicial Proceedings | ||
42 | Baltimore County | Republican | 2018 | Judicial Proceedings | ||
43 | Baltimore City | Democratic | 2018 | Education, Health and Environmental Affairs | ||
44 | Baltimore City and Baltimore County | Democratic | 2019 | Judicial Proceedings | ||
45 | Baltimore City | Democratic | 2018 | Budget and Taxation | ||
46 | Baltimore City | Democratic | 2010 | President of the Senate | ||
47 | Prince George's | Democratic | 2018 | Finance |